I was finishing up a lesson for an apologetics course I signed up for last year. There was a statement that stood out to me. The author was speaking about finding fulfillment in life. He went on to mention how “Sports teams provide people with artificial victories and projected meaning in life.”
That caught my attention. I really do enjoy watching sports and rooting for certain teams and players. As I have gotten older, I’m not as enthusiastic about sports as I used to be. I prefer a more a la carte method when it comes to watching. I will pick and choose what I want to spend my time consuming.
I used to spend a lot of time watching the World Series. Now, when it comes to baseball, I will primarily watch if I have tickets to a game, or if it’s a really close game 6 or game 7. Tuning in to all of the games has become a huge investment of time. It’s not always worth the payout.
I used to be consumed with the NBA and NFL. Now, I will tune in for the most part when the Super Bowl is being played and the NBA Finals. But I wonder if in the past I used sports as a means to enjoy artificial victories in my life? It is interesting how a person can become attached to an athlete or a team. I understand sports is entertainment. But have we taken it too far? Have we allowed sports to give us artificial victories, instead of going after our own victories? I can remember times when I was devastated when a particular player or team didn’t perform the way I wanted them to. But now, I wonder how much of that energy and emotion I could have spent of creating my own victories. I wonder if I should have been more devastated by the amount of time I gave to being a consumer of sports, when I could have gone more after my personal victories.
Have we allowed sports and athletes to give us purpose? Have we elevated them to a status that they dictate how we feel and react? We can certainly learn a lot from sports. One can learn focus, discipline, drive, teamwork, and so much more.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m looking into this way too much!
Here’s what I do know. We all have “IT” inside of us. We all can be successful. We all can accomplish our goals. We all can get that gold medal. We can celebrate our VICTORIES.
But it will require work. It will require effort. And it may require that we watch fewer sports and hold on to fewer artificial victories, so we can go and claim ours.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
God Bless,
I CAN DO…SO CAN YOU
Benjamin, I love watching and partaking in different sports. Sometimes I’ll root for a particular team or athlete but I’m not devastated if they lose or ecstatic if they win. I don’t see it as either a personal victory or loss but am aware that, for some people, their sport or team is all consuming. That’s okay too. It would be a sad old world if we were all the same.
Thanks for reading Sheree. Yes, you are correct. I think sports are good. I think I have grown with respect to being super disappointed when my sports team didn’t win. Sports is a form of entertainment, so it’s designed to bring about some form of pleasure. Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate it.
God bless you, too! Thanks for the blessing – I’ll try to be more ‘blessable’ today.
You made me think about my ‘artificial victories’ and how easy it is to get tangled up in sports, politics, and economics to look for victory.
You can do, and so can I, but we can’t do anything separated from Him. This week I’m looking for ‘meaningful victories’ using all I have to help bring heaven to earth, one day at a time!
Amen! Thanks for reading. Great comment. Agreed, it’s all about HIM, not us. The victories we have through HIM is far greater, and the reward will be more than we could ever imagine.
Very thoughtful post!
Thanks for reading